Remember that talk about the Rangers throwing a “boatload of money” at left-hander CC Sabathia if (or when, really) he opts out of his contract with the Yankees? It apparently has no legs.

Sources within the Texas organization told CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler that there’s “no way” a substantial offer will be made this winter.

The Rangers are known to be interested in Japanese ace Yu Darvish, and if they don’t go that route Neftali Feliz could always make his transition — finally — to the starting rotation. Texas doesn’t need to spend wildly on a No. 1, even if C.J. Wilson heads elsewhere.

The American League West champions have a number of promising arms in the upper tiers of their minor league system, including 20-year-old left-hander Martin Perez, who made the jump (however shaky) to the Triple-A level this year. Investing major money into a 31-year-old free agent pitcher with five straight seasons of 230 or more innings is not a move that fits into the Rangers’ blueprint for long-term success. Those kind of deals can sink well-balanced clubs. Remember those years with A-Rod?

Given that the pieces never quite fit, and that the denial came straight from the Rangers, you have to wonder if that ESPN New York report professing Texas’ interest was planted by someone in Sabathia’s camp. The Yankees won’t want to bid against themselves this winter. CC might need another suitor to get his raise.

How about starting a rumor that the Red Sox plan to make a big offer to Sabathia in order to drive up New York’s payroll. After all, sources within the Yankees reportedly claimed that they pretended to be after Crawford in order to drive up the money that the Red Sox eventually paid him. According to this new rumor, John Henry wants revenge for being duped.

Those kind of deals can sink well-balanced clubs. Remember those years with A-Rod?

Yeah, all Arod did was put up fWAR of 7.8, 10.0 and 9.3 those three years with the club. Definitely his fault. It of course couldn’t be the fault of Chan Ho Park (5 years at $65M for 1.5 fWAR in 3 years), or Andres Galarraga whose -0.1 fWAR was worth $6M, or $12M on Darren Oliver, or $24M on Juan Gonzalez.

The problem with the A Rod deal wasn’t his production, but the inability of the cash-strapped Tom Hicks regime to be able to put anything else around A Rod. Additionally, while A Rod was a young player, the same can’t be said for Sabathia. If Texas wouldn’t break the bank for Cliff Lee, I can’t see them doing it for CC.

That’s fine if you only read the first sentence I wrote. How is it the fault of the player who actually performed above his contract compared to those players, Park, Oliver, Galarraga, Gonzalez who were overpaid and performed well below?

Once again, church, not saying that A Rod didn’t earn his money. Wouldn’t say he performed above his contract since it made him the highest paid player in the game. The problem was that when Hicks signed the contract, he made statements indicating that he was going to go all out with his spending to put a championship team on the field. It wasn’t long before Hicks was leaking cash the way a ’75 Vega leaks oil. When Big Tom decided to hold the team payroll near the $60 million mark, the weight of Rodriquez’s contract doomed the strategy. You can’t give that large a percentage to one player. The “hire the best mercennaries” approach only works if you have the money to eat the contracts that don’t work. The “let’s give all our money on one guy” startegy doesn’t leave much for the scouting department, which is really the life blood of any successful team.

lazlosother - Oct 17, 2011 at 1:40 PM

The Ranger’s offer to Lee was very competitive. I’ll believe they have no interest in CC when he opts out and they don’t make an offer. Till then they are a viable suitor.